AdMarket 50

Stock markets got a boost from the progress in the war in Afghanistan even as U.S. economic indicators continue to head south. Forty-eight AdMarket stocks were up for the week and eight down.

Investors seemed to be pleased by restructuring plans at Yahoo! and Interpublic Group of Cos. despite the agency company's grim third-quarter report that included a $478 million net loss (see stories, P. 6 and 33). Several consumer stocks that would benefit from an improvement in the economic forecast also shot up, particularly auto companies General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler. But newspaper companies, such as Gannett Co., Dow Jones & Co. and Washington Post Co., saw less of an uptick after reporting weak October ad lineage.